Perspective on Dental Caries

Of my nine living children,
four had dental caries in their baby teeth. All of my children were
breastfed for two-and-a-half to five years except our oldest, who was
breastfed for only three months. She was born before I found La Leche
League.

According to birth order
it was my fifth (a second-born twin), sixth, eighth, and 10th children
who had caries in their first set of teeth. After their teeth erupted,
I noticed that some of them had lighter spots on them. These spots became
caries later on. With the fifth and sixth, we started dental treatment
at ages three and a half and five years, respectively. Some of their
dental work "held," but some fell out as the soft enamel continued
to crumble away around the fillings. I also noted that the teeth that
had cavities filled became grayish-colored compared to their non-filled
teeth. The fillings in my sixth child's upper front teeth fell out and
the dentist replaced them, after which ensued a month-long infection
at the site with swollen lip and much discomfort and pain for him. Then
those fillings fell out and we did not have them re-filled. With each
child, the dentist informed me that the cavities were due to extended
breastfeeding, night nursings, poor nutrition, and not brushing their
teeth. I would have believed him, too, if it had not been my good fortune
to be involved with LLL. I was following the wise LLL suggestion to
eat foods in their most natural state as often as possible, including
whole grains and fresh fruits. We avoided processed foods and sugar.
The only time candy was in our house was at Easter, Halloween and Christmas.
I knew poor nutrition was not the cause.

All but my first child nursed
at night and nursed well into the preschool years. Only four of the
eight extended breastfeeders had cavities. I knew that breastfeeding
had not caused my children's dental caries.

My first experience with
primary tooth caries gave me further proof that none of these factors
had played a part. After the dentist examined my child's teeth at our
initial visit, he informed me in no uncertain terms that I obviously
had allowed her to eat too much "junk food," sweets, and processed
foods, that I had not brushed her teeth since eruption, and that I had
breastfed her to sleep and not rinsed her mouth out after every nursing!
He didn't know I was still nursing her. I was afraid to let him know
that then. That, I felt, would have been a final condemnation of me
in his eyes.

After being taken quite aback
by this verbal attack on me and my mothering, I rallied in a few moments
and gently pulled out her twin sister, who had been hiding behind my
legs. I replied, "If all that you have just said is true, why didn't
her twin have any cavities after being nursed in the same fashion and
eating the same food and not having her teeth brushed either? I certainly
don't have time to prepare a diet of 'junk food' for one child and another
menu of wholesome food for the other six children!" What kind of
mother would I be to feed one child inferior food and another healthy
food!

That at least gave the dentist
pause. Then I put forth my thoughts and ideas as to why this had happened.
From the limited research I had done at that time, as well as from a
conversation with LLL Advisory Board member and pediatrician Robert
Mendelsohn, I believed something had occurred in utero during the time
that the first teeth were developing, preventing them from forming a
strong and healthy enamel. Possibly it had been a viral infection or
a deficiency in the nutrient(s) responsible for developing strong enamel.
Or in the case of my twins where I was growing two sets of teeth at
once in utero, I may have had enough nutrients for one baby but not
quite enough for two. This is the reason I was given at their birth
for one twin being smaller than the other. She had a smaller placenta.
Though the dentist did reflect on these theories, I received the impression
that he still felt his causes were more valid and our case was just
a "fluke."

By the time we had the last
two children with primary tooth caries, my husband and I decided not
to do anything about any of their cavities unless they caused pain.
Then we only would have the offending tooth pulled instead of having
them filled. This turned out to be much less painful and less stressful
than numerous dental visits with the corresponding shots and fillings
that fall out anyway. When we decided on this route, we were informed
that our children's second teeth would be negatively affected, with
damaged enamel, even more cavities than the first set, and poor alignment.

Now that those children are
older (between the ages of 12 and 30), I am happy to say that the predictions
of cavity ridden adult teeth did not come to pass. They all have strong
teeth with either no or very few cavities.

Six of our nine children
needed braces because they have a very narrow and high dental arch (hard
palate) as well as small mouths. There was not enough actual gum to
contain all of their second set of teeth. This type of arch they inherited
from me. The last and current dentist we have been going to who has
overseen all our braces never failed to comment admiringly on our eighth
child's strong and very healthy teeth when he applied and maintained
her braces. I gently informed him how badly her first teeth had been
afflicted with caries and that we had done nothing about repairing them
except having a painful one pulled. He still comments on her strong
and nearly cavity-free teeth when she goes in for a checkup.

Why did my children have
such healthy and strong second teeth? I believe it is because of breastfeeding.
Though I couldn't control what happened during the development of their
first set of teeth in the womb, I could give them the most superior
nutrition available after their births and for as long as they wanted
afterward, which was breastfeeding. The second set of teeth had the
best nourishment to develop into the strongest teeth possible. This
apparently held true for my children. Since we have lived in a rural
area for over 29 years and drink water from our own well, I cannot give
fluoride any credit. Nor did we choose to let our children get any fluoride
treatments from our dentist.

I hope that sharing my experience
will give mothers confidence in the good of breastfeeding and help them
realize that some children get cavities and some don't, regardless of
whether or not they are breastfed.

Editor's
note: This story describes a mother's personal experience with dental
caries. She gives some of her theories about their development, especially
with regard to how her personal experiences have contradicted some scientific
theories currently promoted. LLLI is not endorsing, nor discounting,
her theories but simply sharing one mother's experience with the issue
of dental caries and some hypotheses she has about their development.
At this point, there has not been scientific research to test her theories.
To read more about breastfeeding and dental health, go to www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBdental.html.